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A family of festivals

XFM’s Sam Walker finds festivals that both her and her bump can enjoy

Published on June 14th 2007.

Ahhhh June. Sweet June. When the rain slowly (dare we hope) begins to subside and the sun tentatively starts to show its face, blinding school children as its rays glance off my dazzling white calves that not even industrial fake tan or gravy browning can tint. (Obviously, by the time you read this, we'll be experiencing some form of arctic winter, but that's Manchester.)

If music is a big part of your life, the heralding of June can mean only one thing: Festivals. And lots of them.

Festivals, like family members, all have distinct personalities.Glastonbury is the very cool but wise grandparent, with a glint in their eye and mischievous tales to tell. The one who lets you get away with so much more than your parents ever would. Leeds and Reading, the energetic and slightly smelly teenage brother, T In the Park, the fiery, unpredictable Hibernian cousin (you may well lose entire weekends spent with them), whilst V is the accountant brother-in-law who is generally organised and sensible, but sometimes surprises you.

This year however, I shall mostly be staying in Manchester for the summer. Not because I have a sudden urge to hang around Urbis with teenagers. But because, I am, as my Nana would call it, carrying the gift of life. I have various other terms for it, depending on whether I am throwing up, turning down vodka with a tear in my eye, or having to stand at the back of gigs near the people who have mistakenly identified seeing Enter Shikari as an evening spent ogling a South American diva.

Yes, I am with child, which means the realistic possibility of going and jumping up and down in a field in the middle of a crowd of 100,000 people and sleeping on a bit of plastic-covered grass for four nights is just out of the question. This fact is causing me much distress.

However, not all is lost. Firstly, there is more than a whiff of music happening in Manchester over the summer - including Dpercussion. It's the tenth anniversary of the free festival this year, and the line up over two days and nine stages is fantastic including Sunshine Underground, The Rumblestrips, David Holmes, and Belle & Sebastian. What's more, you can get the bus home to a real bed when you tire yourself out (in my case, around 5pm).

Also, Xfm Manchester is broadcasting some great festivals and live events over the summer, including the brilliant Ibiza Rocks sessions -check out xfmmanchester.co.uk for details. And don't forget for the full festival experience, before you listen, don't wash for at least three days, charge yourself £5 for a warm can of beer and a cold pot noodle and invite random people in off the street to sit just that bit TOO close to you on your lounge floor.

Roll on Summer 2008!

Sam Walker is currently standing in for Tim Cocker’s Drive time show from 4pm – 7pm on 97.7 Xfm Manchester

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